The Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, collaborated in the webinar on the Market Surveillance Observatory (MSO), which was organized by Eurolab-Spain and the Association of Testing, Calibration and Analysis Organizations (FELAB).
This meeting presented the UNE's Market Surveillance Observatory as an example of a successful model for public-private collaboration. Its activity was explained, as was the role in the Observatory of the government agencies and business organizations that make it up.
The event was moderated by the chair of Eurolab-Spain, Mª Teresa Sanfeliu Ribot, and featured Isabel Linares, head of the UNE Industry and Equipment business unit.
The MSO is composed of more than 40 Spanish business organizations, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and various authorities with responsibilities for market surveillance. Its aim is to strengthen public-private collaboration in this area and to promote compliance with technical standards and legislation.
The 2022 Annual Market Surveillance Report collects data on activities carried out in 2021. The competent authorities in the area of market surveillance conducted 86,117 inspections, with irregularities being detected in only 14.5% of cases. The main irregularities involved standardization and sales conditions (56%), followed by other infringements (23%), counterfeiting and poor quality (8.2%), prices (7.9%) and commercial transactions (5.2%).
The Report also highlights the unsafe nature of some products purchased outside the EU through the online markets provided by sales platforms or social networks, and that are received directly by consumers. These platforms are not regarded as economic operators; as a result, they are not held accountable for the safety and health of the end users who receive the products.
Non-compliant and unsafe products pose a risk to the public and can distort competition with economic operators that sell compliant products in the EU.
